Category: San Francisco Giants

Giants’ unique path to NL Pennant includes chance meeting of series hero Ishikawa and teammate Peavy

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By Morris Phillips

Travis Ishikawa wasn’t supposed to be a playoff hero.  In his return to the organization that drafted him in 2002, he was supposed to be a familiar face at AAA Fresno, providing depth and versatility for the Grizzlies.

Michael Morse wasn’t supposed to be a playoff hero either.  Morse was supposed to be regaining his health for pinch-hitting assignments with Ishikawa assuming his spot in left field. Morse missed almost the entire month of September in an attempt to regain his conditioning and health after an oblique injury, and he wasn’t on the Giants’ roster for the wild card game or the NLDS.

Of course, the Giants weren’t supposed to be capable of a dramatic, pennant-clinching home run.  First of all, no team had managed such a feat in hundreds of playoffs games since 2006.  And the Giants had spent all of this post-season trying to become the first team to manufacture all of their runs using duct tape, breakfast cereal and ice water.

But all of that changed Thursday night when first, Morse homered off of Pat Neshek to tie NLCS Game 5 in the eighth, and Ishikawa followed with his game-winning hit turned three-run homer in the ninth.

Like any sports moment immediately etched on millions of watchers minds, this one had its own story.  Ishikawa recounted the final pitch of the NLCS afterwards.

“Obviously got a good pitch.  When I first hit it, again.  I just thought it was going to be a walk-off hit, so I was throwing my hands up in the air, and then I just heard.  I remember hearing the crowd just going crazy, and so my thought was, ‘Okay, if this gets out, it’s going to be fantastic.’”

“And I saw it get out and I remember high-fiving Roberto.  I don’t remember going from first to second.  Later I found out it was Peavy that was jumping at me between second and third.  I didn’t know who it was.  I just knew it was somebody,” Ishikawa said.

The level of unbridled excitement jam-packed into the moment of Ishikawa’s home run was personified by the awkward meeting of Peavy and the game’s hero between second and third base.  Peavy, who has started seven playoff games in his career, including Game 3 of the 2013 World Series for the Red Sox, instantly transformed from veteran to amateur by wandering onto the field of play with the game going on and compounding his mistake by awkwardly grabbing Ishikawa.  The game’s hero smartly shed Peavy and in deference to his experience gained as a bit player in the Giants’ 2010 title run continued his trip around the bases and at least momentarily considered the rules of the game.

“I know the base coaches are not allowed to touch runners when they are trying to score, so I didn’t know if touching him was going to cost me the home run or something,” Ishikawa recounted.  “I was just trying to push him out of the way.”

The Giants became the first team to win eight consecutive post-season series and nine consecutive playoff opponents including their win over the Pirates in this season’s playoff opener.  Game 1 winner and Game 5 starter Madison Bumgarner was named the NLCS MVP and manager Bruce Bochy, simply as a byproduct of having this much post-season success pushing buttons without so much as a hiccup, was anointed a baseball deity.

“I mean, what a great story,” Bochy said of Ishikawa.  “Here he gets released and we sign him, he goes to Fresno, comes up, he’s our everyday left fielder and ends up getting the home run to get us to the World Series.”

“I couldn’t be happier for him, everybody.  I mean, just a gutty effort through all this and I couldn’t be prouder of these guys.  They just don’t stop fighting.”

To the Cardinals’ credit, this one was a fight, with St. Louis desperately trying to push the series back home for the last two games.  Cardinals’ starter Adam Wainwright was terrific, allowing just four hits in seven innings of work, with Joe Panik’s two-run homer in the third standing as Wainwright’s only blemish.  Panik’s shot gave the Giants an early lead, but St. Louis first baseman Matt Adams homered in the fourth to tie it, and backup catcher Tony Cruz followed with a solo shot to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.

For the Giants, Bumgarner went eight innings, allowing both the Adams and Cruz homers.  He gave way to Santiago Casilla in the ninth, and Jeremy Affeldt came on to get the final out of the ninth and became the game’s winning pitcher when Ishikawa connected.

The Giants and the American League champion Royals begin the World Series on Tuesday evening at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.  The Royals have yet to drop a post-season game, winning eight straight to set a new major league record.  The Royals also swept a three-game series from the Giants in early August, also in Kansas City, with Bumgarner, Tim Hudson and Tim Lincecum the Giants’ starters and losing pitchers of record in that order.

The Giants bring the World Series back to AT&T Park for the third time in five years on October 24 and 25 with a potential Game 5 scheduled for Sunday evening, October 26, if necessary.

Series-ously? Ishikawa’s home run propels Giants into the World Series for third time in five years

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Series bound

By Morris Phillips

The Giants are headed back to the World Series for the third time in five years thanks to Travis Ishikawa’s three-run home run into the AT&T Park right field arcade that broke up a tie game in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 5 of the NLCS.

With fans throughout the stadium cheering uncontrollably, Ishikawa circled the bases with his teammates waiting for his arrival at home plate.  Ishikawa threw his helmet between third and home and jumped into a pit of celebration at the plate.

The Giants also defeated the Cardinals on their way to the 2012 World Series title and are attempting to win a third title since 2010 with Game 1 against the American League champion Royals in Kansas City scheduled for Saturday night.

The surprise Royals have yet to lose a game in the 2014 post-season and will be looking to win the title in their first playoff appearance since their first and only world title in 1985.

More details to come from AT&T Park and coverage from the Giants’ clubhouse.

Small ball Giants feast on Cardinals’ mistakes once again, now just a game from another World Series berth

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Game 4

By Morris Phillips

Once again, here come the Giants… one base at a time.

Situational baseball, one base at a time or putting pressure on the defense doesn’t have the magical ring of Mr. October and Reggie Jackson’s multiple home runs, but what the 2014 Giants are doing might ultimately be as memorable with the team now one game away from a third World Series berth in five years.

Regardless of how the Giants are remembered years from now, their methods have been deadly effective in getting past the Pirates and Nationals and now taking a commanding 3-1 lead over the Cardinals in the NLCS after Wednesday’s 6-4 win in Game 4.  Just as effective as Reggie Jackson or Kurt Gibson hitting the ball over the fence.

“If you’re not hitting the long ball, you have to find ways to manufacture runs,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

“We’ve been doing a lot of the little things right,” Brandon Crawford said.  “They kind of go unnoticed.  People think we’re getting lucky or whatever.  We are putting pressure on teams by doing the little things right.  By running the bases well, by getting bunts down, by playing good defense.”

Crawford’s assessment couldn’t have been more spot on, but the Giants’ methods haven’t gone unnoticed.  In fact, the pressure brought by Giants’ persistent ways has forced the Cardinals into repeated mistakes.  St. Louis first baseman Matt Adams made a pair of gaffes in the Giants’ three-run rally in the sixth that allowed them to fully recover from an early 4-1 deficit.

With runners at second and third, one out and Gregor Blanco at bat, Blanco’s chopper was flawlessly fielded by Adams charging in.  But then Adams eschewed the sure out at first, and threw a poor, one-hopper to the plate just as Juan Perez slide in behind the poor throw with the tying run.

Then on Joe Panik’s one hopper with runners at first and third, Adams again fielded the ball cleanly, touched the bag for one out, but then threw slow and wildly to second base in a failed attempt to double up Blanco. Had Adams noticed Crawford wandering too far off third, he could have attempted to record a second out there.  Instead, his poor throw allowed Crawford to race home with another Giants’ run.

“The play at home, there’s a fast runner at third and I was going in on the ball and threw on the run,” Adams recalled.  “Just should’ve made the throw, though.  The second one, I should’ve just touched first and checked home.”

Buster Posey followed Adams’ gaffes with a clean, RBI single and the Giants were on their way with their bullpen all set and capable to protect a two-run lead in the final three innings.

Bochy first called on Jeremy Affeldt in the seventh and he recorded a pair of outs.  But when Jean Machi allowed Matt Holliday’s single, the manager summoned left-handed specialist Javier Lopez who retired Adams on a ground out with a pair of runners aboard.

Sergio Romo retired the Cardinals in the eighth, and Santiago Casilla recorded the save in a near-perfect ninth.

Ryan Vogelsong got the start for the Giants, but only lasted three innings in which the Cardinals scored runs in all three and took their, short-lived 4-1 lead.  But the Giants answered in the bottom of the third with run-scoring base hits from Posey and Hunter Pence to climb back within a run.

That early rally, along with three innings of terrific relief pitching from long man Yusmeiro Petit, set up the Giants for their game-winning surge in the sixth.  Petit was flawless, allowing just one hit and striking out four in his extended stint that bridged the gap to the back end of the Giants’ bullpen.

After falling behind 4-1, six Giants relievers saw action and the Cardinals were held scoreless over the final six innings of the game.

The Giants now have ace Madison Bumgarner set for a possible series-clinching Game 5, but the team’s mood afterward was anything but giddy.  It was just two years ago that the Giants recovered from a 3-1 deficit, and shocked the Cardinals on their way to the World Series.  This time, the Giants know the tables could be turned if they’re not careful.

“If we don’t come out and play good baseball, they’re going to take advantage of that and they can definitely get back in the series,” Brandon Belt said.

“It’s definitely going to be a dogfight,” Crawford said warily.

Bumgarner faces St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright in Game 5 starting at 5:07pm.  Bumgarner bested Wainwright in Game 1, pitching 7 2/3 innings in the Giants 3-0 victory.

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: The Earthquake Series 25 years later. I remember.

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, this Friday the 17th, which stopped the World Series for eleven days, we must remember what was going on in 1989 and during those years.

Just after the Oakland Athletics defeated the San Francisco Giants in that 1989 World Series, with two victories prior to the earthquake and two victories after the earthquake, KSTS CH 48 Telemundo would begin a schedule of weekend games live in Spanish of the four time World Champion Oakland A’s. The first and only time that a Spanish television station in the Bay Area broadcasted live baseball games in Spanish. This was years before the soccer furor and the US 1994 World Cup, which I also covered for Telemundo.

Then, General Manager, Joe Cruz, built a brand new set, colors Green and Gold, and authorized an expense of a few thousand dollars to build such a nice set. Yours truly was the Sports Director and Anchor those early years at Telemundo. The play by play of the games then were done from those studios, live, with a green screen in the background calling A’s games.

In this I Phone-Twitter-I Pad-Smart Phone and whatever else world we are living today, it is good to remember the many things that were done on radio and television. Like an old friend in the business tells me: “everything already has been done, at least once, although some people think they are re-discovering the world”.

But for me that faithful moment on October 17, 1989 at 5:04 PM is forever engraved in my memory. That morning it was a clear and perfect day in the Bay Area, temperatures around 70 degrees. One of those beautiful ‘Indian Summer’ days which we are accustomed here in the Bay Area, in September and October. I was doing the Spanish play by play for the Oakland Athletics on KNTA 1430AM radio, with main studios in San José.

My broadcast partner was Evelio Areas Mendoza, today retired and living in his native Nicaragua, Erwin Higueros (today broadcasting the Giants in Spanish)was our engineer. The A’s won games one and two at the Oakland Coliseum. Game three, four and five, were scheduled for San Francisco.

We were given a very small auxiliary broadcast booth next to the roof at Candlestick Park. The A’s dominated, winning at Oakland Saturday the 14th, by a score of 5-0 and then again on Sunday the 15th, by 5-1. The Loma Prieta Earthquake struck on October 17, 1989 at 5:04 p.m. Game 3 was scheduled to start at 5:35 pm at Candlestick Park, and thousands of people were already in the stadium when the quake occurred. Because of the coincidence of timing, it was the first major earthquake in the United States ever to be broadcast by live television.

We were doing our pregame show when the earthquake struck and I remember Evelio doing commentary about the enthusiasm of the Giants fans at the park, saying that the park was rocking because of the Giants fans in the stands, when the quake struck and I remember saying, “Evelio this is more than the Giants fans, I think we are having an earthquake” Both teams players were standing on the field, in a state of disbelief, I remember some of the players’ wives of the A’s came down to the field to be with their husbands, legendary Giants star and Hall of Famer Willie Mays wondered around the field, the San Francisco Police Department and other emergency services came onto the field at Candlestick Park. Our broadcast lines went down, we were “off the air”.

After the quake, and while in the main Press Box at Candlestick, I was interviewed by various local Bay Area as well as Latin American media outlets to talk about the earthquake. We were inside a stadium that had no view to the outside, so we all didn’t know what was happening outside. While at the Press Box I remember seeing the first images on CH 5 with Anchor Ana Chávez and saw for the first time the part of the Bay Bridge that broke in two with some cars dangling on top of the water, and then the fire at the Marina. By the way, Olga and Joaquin (my parents) previously to living in the Mission District in San Francisco, also lived for a few years at #2 Cervantes in the Marina. That building was destroyed and fire burned it to the ground that afternoon.

It took me close to three hours to drive back to my home in Fremont, since the bridges were close I had to drive around the bay all the way south. First stopped to see my mother and father whom at that time- were living in a retirement building in the San Francisco Mission District, they were fine, although their apartment was a real mess. Then I dropped Evelio at his home in Daly City and later Erwin at his home in Oakland. My car water pump was leaking that morning, so I drove my wife’s car(who was in much better shape) to the game.

As for the Series itself Commissioner Fay Vincent decided to postpone Game three (although he didn’t tell anyone before doing so, resulting in an umpire protest) initially for five days, resulting in the longest delay in World Series history.. It was postponed for another five days (until October 27) because of delays in restoring transmission links. When action resumed for game three, the 27th of October the Athletics won 13-7 and then completed the four-game sweep by winning the next day, by a score of 9 to 6. The score was settled, the Athletics swept the Giants and now they have won four(4)World Series since they arrived in Oakland (from Kansas City)in 1968.

At the time of this 1989 World Series, the Giants have not won a World Series in their history in San Francisco since 1958. They won it 21 years later in 2010, and then again in 2012,at their new ATT Park.

Just one of my many memories in the business, which I thought was appropriate to remember during this week, when we celebrate 25 years since the earthquake that stopped the World Series for eleven days.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s and on television on Fox Sports in Los Angeles with the LA Angels, and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo credit: google credit

Blanco wins it with a bunt

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By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-.Gregor Blanco came up with a perfect bunt at the most opportune time in the game.

Blanco laid a bunt that reliever Randy Choate fielded; however his throw to first base went passed first and into right field allowing Brandon Crawford to score from second base, as the San Francisco Giants would go on to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 in 10 inning in Game Three of the National League Championship Series before a sellout crowd of 42,716 at AT&T Park.

With the victory, the Giants take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series against the Cardinals, the fourth all-time meeting between the teams in the National League Championship Series.

Crawford reached on a walk, the first baserunner to reach base since Tim Hudson reached on a single in the bottom of the fourth inning then advanced to second base on a base hit by Juan Perez to bring Blanco to the plate.

Sergio Romo pitched the 10th inning to pickup the victory just two nights after allowing a walk-off home run to Kolton Wong.

Hudson pitched an admirable game in his debut in the NLCS, as the 16-year veteran went 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, walking zero and striking out five.

Travis Ishikawa got the Giants on the board early, as he took a John Lackey pitch in the bottom of the first inning and put it into the right-center field alley way that allowed three runs to score.

The Ishikawa double came after Lackey was able to retire Gregor Blanco on a popup to Jhonny Peralta at shortstop, and then Joe Panik was robbed of a base hit, when John Jay made a tremendous diving catch in centerfield.

Following the Panik flyout to Jay, that is when the wheels began to unravel for Lackey in the inning.

Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval each singled, and then Hunter Pence hit a double that scored Posey and sent Sandoval to third base.

With a 3-0 count on Brandon Belt, and first base open, Lackey then intentionally walked Belt to load the bases that brought up Ishikawa.

The left-handed Ishikawa put the Lackey pitch into between Jay and Cardinals right fielder Randal Grichuk to clear the bases and give the Giants a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

The four runs scored by the Giants were the most in a first inning in postseason play since Game Seven of the 1912 World Series against the Boston Red Sox.

Grichuk tied up the game in the top of the seventh inning, as he took a Hudson pitch and slammed it off the left field foul pole. It was the second home run of the postseason for Grichuk.

Lackey went six innings, allowing four runs on five hits, walking just one and striking out three.

Game Two hero Wong, who hit a walkoff home run off of Romo in the bottom of the ninth inning to even up the Best-of-Seven NLCS continues to be a thorn in the side of the Giants pitching staff.

Wong doubled with two outs in the top of the second inning for the Cardinals first hit of the game, and then got the Cardinals on the board in the top of the fourth inning, as he tripled to right-centerfield to score Jay and Matt Holliday after both singled off of Hudson to leadoff the inning.

Peralta got the Cardinals within one run in the top of the sixth inning, as he singled underneath the glove of a sliding Sandoval to score Jay from third base after the centerfielder led off the inning with a single, went to second on a Holliday groundout and then to third on a Matt Adams groundout to Belt at first base.

Hudson got out of the inning after getting the hot-hitting Wong to flyout to Blanco to end the inning.

After Hudson singled in the bottom of the fourth inning, Lackey, and relievers Marco Gonzales, Pat Neshek and Seth Maness did not allow a baserunner to reach base and retired 16 in a row from the final out of the fourth until the end of the ninth inning.

Hudson, Lackey matchup in Game 3 a long time in the making

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By Morris Phillips

In 2002, when 35-year old John Lackey from Abeline, Texas made his mid-season, major league debut, he just wanted to prove he belonged.  That October, he did more than that, pitching the Anaheim Angels to their first world title as the Game 7 starter–and winner–against the Giants.

That same year, TIm Hudson of the A’s was racking up wins as if he were an 8-year old beating his younger brother at tic-tac-toe.  The now 39-year old would go on to win 15 games in 2002, and the A’s captured the AL West division title over the Angels with 103 wins.

Hudson would go on to hold the highest winning percentage for a starting pitcher with at least 50 wins by starting his career 78-30.  That mark was achieved in the middle of 2003 as the A’s were racing to a second straight division title.

But Hudson and the A’s enjoyed little post-season success.  The pitcher and the team were eliminated in the ALDS all four years they qualified.  Hudson entered 2013 with one post-season win and no post-season series wins in Oakland, where he started his career, or Atlanta where he was traded prior to the 2005 season.

Meanwhile, Lackey continued his playoff success after 2002: The right hander would win seven of his post-season assignments and a second world title as a member of the Red Sox in 2013.

Now, the two competitors with a combined 366 career wins face each other in Tuesday’s Game 3 of the NLCS and despite the differences in won-loss records and titles, Hudson and Lackey remain respectful of each other on the eve of their matchup.

“Nothing but respect for Huddy for sure,” Lackey said.  “Had an outstanding career.  I remember facing him as a young pitcher in Oakland, going against him, and I always respected the way he competed and the way he just went about his business.”

As Lackey described, Hudson has been on top of his game mentally in 2014.  After suffering a horrific, broken ankle that ended his 2013 season, Hudson became a free agent and signed with the Giants. But after a fast start and an All-Star game appearance , Hudson slowed dramatically, at one point, dropping up eight of his nine decisions.  Things weren’t much better in September when Hudson dropped his last four starts, including the 17-0 drubbing by the Dodgers.  But when given the ball in Game 2 against the Nationals, Hudson was fantastic, allowing seven hits and a run in the game the Giants would go on to win, 2-1 in 18 innings.

“It’s great to have Huddy going and have Huddy healthy,” manager Bruce Bochy said.  “He was dealing with that hip for a little while there, and I think it was affecting him even more than he was telling us.”

Lackey, who was acquired from Boston prior to the trade deadline, wasn’t were the Cardinals needed him to be when he arrived in July.  As one of the few bright spots for the Red Sox this year, Lackey won 11 games and made every scheduled start for Boston.  But when he got to St. Louis, the heavy workload appeared to be affecting Lackey.

“He came in and actually was going through kind of a dead arm phase when we got him and was still able to keep himself in the game.  We look up in the seventh inning and we are right there in it,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.

The Cardinals won five of Lackey’s first six starts, before dropping three of four in September.  But the 6’6″ right hander was back on his game in Game 3 against the Dodgers in the NLDS.  Lackey allowed five hits and a run, picked up the win, and the Cardinals moved within a game of eliminating Los Angeles.

Neither pitcher, despite their resumes, was destined to have this big of a role in the post-season.  Bochy said that Hudson was acquired more for what he could do for the Giants in the regular season in hopes of capturing a post-season berth. If the Giants had a healthy Matt Cain, and an effective Tim Lincecum, Hudson could easily been relegated to a backup role in the team’s playoff rotation.  But he kept working, and in the absence of Cain and Lincecum, Hudson finds himself in the mix with a plan to compensate for the velocity that he’s lost over the years.

“When I first came up, I was a sinker/split guy and an occasional breaking ball,” Hudson recalled.  “Now, there’s been times where I’ve tried to make up pitches before to try to get guys out.  But you know what, it’s just one of those things where you have to throw your ego aside.  You might not have that 94 or 95 in the tank anymore but at this point in my career I feel like I’m a much smarter pitcher and I understand my body and I understand my mechanics much better now than when I was younger.”

Lackey confessed to the same type of creativity as Hudson, once again in deference to age and declining velocity.

“I throw a little bit of everything nowadays,” he said,  “If it feels good, I invent stuff on the mound nowadays.”

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Teams that travel to Dallas are concerned about Ebola; MLB Postseason update

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

SAN FRANCISCO–The latest is everyone professional and college sports teams although they don’t say it real loud are concerned about the Ebola situation when teams have to make the trip to Dallas. For the professional teams in MLB, NFL, NHL, and the NBA all have their own charter planes. So folks who fly in and out of Dallas have a lot of concern because people don’t know about this desease and it might be airborne too.

The government says it doesn’t know much about it, the Centers for Deasese Control in Atlanta I won’t say their confused but they don’t know enough yet. Whatever they know is kind of controversial. On Sunday a goup of nurses in Oakland they went and demonstrated in front of the hospital in Oakland saying the nurses are not the problem. They say the nurses need more training.

This is a desease that is not new but it’s new to the United States but it’s been happening in Africa for along time. It’s not a direct threat right now to the players and the public at large. The players do travel in their own private planes. All teams in the four main leagues charter their planes. The same cannot be said about college players because many times when I fly to Anaheim from Oakland I run into college athletes like the Stanford women’s polo team.

I would be more concerned for the college teams because 99 percent of colleges don’t have the funds to charter their own planes. To charter a plane your talking about $40-50,000 a trip. It’s a long trip from coast to coast. I would be more concerned for college players if this pandemic spreads to other cities and states.

Kaplan returns A’s owner mayoral donation: Oakland A’s owner Lew Wolf this week received $700 that he donated to Rebecca Kaplan Oakland mayorial candidate because of a conflict of interest. Kaplan whose campaigning for mayor doesn’t want to be tainted by this donation. It would give the appearance that if Kaplan got in she would owe political favors to the Oakland A’s.

Wolf has a right to donate money to a political campaign he’s a citizen of the United States. Not only you don’t have to be a millionare you can give money to any government office. The difference here as opposed to the common citizen, Wolf is the owner of the A’s and it gives a bad impression, if Kaplan kept the money and the A’s start looking for a favor.

Is the Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie on the chopping block? The Oakland Raiders are now 0-5 and I watched most of the game versus the Chargers on Sunday at the Coliseum and Raiders rookie quarterback Derrek Carr became the first rookie to throw four touchdowns in a game so maybe a star is born. They already fired Dennis Allen and you have Tony Sparano as the new head coach give him a shot and he told the team to forget about the 0-4 record before last Sunday’s game.

I watched that game and any Raider fan would be happy to see this kid Derrick Carr who threw for four touchdowns that would be a ray of hope for the Raiders that they have a quarterback for the future. Maybe that could start mending this situation. The fact remains their still 0-5 and they’re going to end up with the worst record in the league and they have to host the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday.

MLB postseason: The playoffs are a different season as we can see, the St.Louis Cardinals hit only 105 home runs in their regular season. Yet they hit four home runs on Sunday night against the San Francisco Giants. Kolten Wong hit one that won the game by edging the Giants 5-4 and tying up the series 1-1. Giants releiver Sergio Romo was the difference for the one run victory.

However the Cardinals lost their ace catcher and star of the team to an Oblique injury Yadier Molina. Molina is the best catcher in baseball next to Giants catcher Buster Posey. There is nobody close to Molina.
He’s the leader of that team and this will allow the Giants more prone to win this series. The Giants should be favorites. The Giants will also have to see an old guy that they don’t like A.J. Pierzynski also a former Giant.

Pierzynski will probably be catching on Tuesday night for the Cards, the Cards have 27 year old Tony Cruz but the Cardinals front office was brilliant in bringing in Pierzynski and the team carried three catchers and it paid off. They lost Molina, they have Cruz who is still a young guy and is suppose to be good defensivley. Pierzynski hits Giants pitching very well and he’s hit Hudson well.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball and does News and Commentary weekly for sportsradioservice.com

photo credit: google images

MLB Postseason commentary: Royals can do more damage in KC; Cards will try to prevent Giants going up 2-0

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by Daniel Dullum

(0)Baltimore @ Kansas City (2) game ALCS three Monday: I’ll use the old cliche’ there is something to be said about getting hot at the right time and the Royals had a fierce month of September just to get to that one game playoff. That American League Central race was tight for the last three months of the season and the Royals just kept coming.

Here’s the secret for the Royals over the last three or four years they’ve done a great job scouting and drafting and they herded up a herd of rabbits that could hit. You put that with the pitching that they rounded up and good things are going to happen. The Royals were able to put a quality team back out on the field that fits their stadium Kaufman Stadium.

The stadium is so spacious, you remember back in the 70s and 80s they had some guys like George Brett that had power and guys like Willie Wilson and Amos Otis, guys like that who run, and it’s a pitcher’s ball park. So if the Royals have someone who can hit in the gaps in right field your good to go. The Royals have a line up for these guys. I don’t know where the home runs are coming from but Mike Moustakous he’s going to become a high draft pick in the fantasy league drafts.

The Royals have some awsome pitching and their heading home with pitchers like Yordano Ventura and James Shields. With the Royals leading this series 2-0 this is not what the Orioles had in mind but also keep in mind the Orioles are not out of it yet. This is a seven game series so if the O’s win on Monday night their right back in it. The Royals had Wade Davis on the mound on Saturday who did a terrific job.

Picking up Shields from Tampa Bay has been a huge addition and they’ve got some guys that can throw bullets like Greg Holland in the bull pen. The Royals bullpen is very strong it’s similar to like the Giants. If the Royals have a lead going into the seventh or eighth inning your work is cut out because these guys can slam the door.

San Francisco (1) @ St.Louis (0) NLCS game two Sunday night: The Giants have got into the NLCS in a very unspectacular way offensively their actually using a better small ball strategy to get the job done. They’ve got power in the line up but the power kind of comes and goes and the Giants have had to manufacture runs to do it.

The Giants have scored runs well and they’ve done it enough to back up that excellent pitching. The pitching for the Giants has really been the key here. In the starting pitching department their obviously missing Matt Cain for this series and the previous one. The Giants have these veterans like Tim Hudson and Madison Bumgarner to assume the role of the ace.

All these guys have to do is get that game to the seventh inning, the Giants might have the best bullpen out of the final four teams in the playoffs right now. That is saying something because Kansas City’s bullpen is outstanding. So are the Giants, you get to the seventh inning and later your going to be looking at Sergio Romo in the eighth, Santiago Casillas in the ninth, in the seventh you have any number of pitchers you can call on Jeremy Affeldt and Tim Lincecum are two.

The Giants have done well and they really accomplished what they really wanted to do and Saturday night they got the 3-0 shutout against the Cardinals behind the help of starter Bumgarner. The very least the Giants will get out of this trip is a split in two games. The Giants are in good shape regardless of what happens Monday night.

Daniel Dullum does MLB Post Season commentary for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo credit: google images

Thats Amaury’s News and Commentary: Cain and Bumgarner are post season hereos

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

BALTIMORE–At Camden Yards in Baltimore. Kansas City Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain went four for five and continued his incredible defense and the Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles for the second day in a row, to take a two game lead in the American League Championship Series. The Royals and Orioles now travel to Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, where the next three games are scheduled, needing only two more wins to land in the World Series for the first time since 1985.

With temperatures of 50 degrees, a sold out crowd of 46.912 saw their team losing two games in a row, for the first time this season since June 28-29 to the Tampa Bay Rays. Royals starter Yordano Ventura left with tightness in his right shoulder after pitching 5 2/3 innings and giving up four earned runs on four hits. Ventura said after the game “I had trouble gripping the ball” Wade Davis won it in relief, and Greg Holland saved it. Mike Moustakas continues his torrid hitting with another home run, his fourth in the last six post season games.

Game 3: Monday October 13 at Kauffman Staidum in Kansas City. 5:00PM PDT West Coast time

At Busch Stadium, St Louis. The San Francisco Giants took game one of the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, behind the arm of Madison Bumgarner who blanked the Redbirds for 7 2/3 innings, allowing only 4 hits, while walking 1 and striking out 7. Adam Wainwright pitched for 4 2/3 innings allowed six hits to the Giants a total of three runs (two earned) and struck out two, he has been pitching with a sore elbow (tendinitis since June).

In nine postseason innings this October, Wainwright has already thrown 200 pitches, allowing eight earned runs and 17 hits.The Cardinals bullpen blanked the Giants the rest of the way, with a combination of González,Martínez,Choate and Maness. A total of 47,201 crowded the park.These two teams who faced each other again in the National League Championship Series back in 2012, will battle gain on game two on Sunday.

Game 2: Sunday October 12 at Busch Stadium in St Louis. 5:00PM West Coast time.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and does News and Commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants NLCS commentary: Can Giants get another 2-0 jump on Cards just like in Washington?

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by Michael Duca

ST.LOUIS–The San Francisco Giants batting practice was scratched due to rain on Thursday but the St.Louis Cardinals were able to get in a little work later in the afternoon. The two teams had a round of batting on Friday and given their druthers both of these teams would prefer having continue to play without the three day break. However they’ll get a better playoff series because of this layoff it’s going to turn on pitching.

This way the pitching staffs including the bullpens are all well rested, last week’s 18 inning game from the Division Series is not going to be any trouble for the Giants on Saturday. The Giants and Cards have the rotation set up just the way the managers like them with Madison Bumgarner (1-1) ERA 1.13 for the Giants and Adam Wainwright (0-0) ERA 12.46 for the Cards in game one.

You have to look at this first game and say that there are some pitchers that perform well in the regular season and some pitchers perform well in the post season and a few pitchers that perfrom well in both places. The Dodgers Clayton Kershaw outdueled Bumgarner in the regular season but in the post season Bumgarner has been the best lefthander in the National League.

Then there’s Giant pitcher Ryan Vogelsong (0-0) ERA 1.59 who has been pedestrian during the season but he just seemed to come up enormously big during the post season. As far as Cardinals game one starter Wainwright is concerned the Cards are not going to win without him and they may not win with him. He has had tendinitis and if Wainwright goes down with an injury it’s not one that’s going to keep him out of next season. You might as well use Wainwright and see what happens if he doesn’t make it then it won’t make any difference because you weren’t going to get to the next round anyway.

The Giants have left handed hitters on their roster that they could go to Gregor Blanco, Joe Panik, Brandon Belt, and Brandon Crawford and with these hitters you can’t rely on any mistakes by Cardinal pitching and you also have to remember the Washington Nats the Giants last opponents were not ones that made too many mistakes in a number of those one run games in the NLDS.

Who knows whats going to happen, the playoffs are so unpredictable for example the Giants went out and grabbed the last spot in Pittsburgh beating the Pirates 8-0 in the Wild Card game and if they lose that one it was pack your bags. Then the Giants advanced and beat Washington in five games and beat them in the first two games in Washington.

Jauquin Andujar the former A’s pitcher said it best when it come to this game, “you never know” and how big will it be for the Giants to have a split or a two game lead coming back to San Francisco for game three on Tuesday afternoon. The Giants would be thrilled to come back with a split but also they would love to come back with a two game lead.

If you come home 2-0 in the best of seven series the odds are almost prohibitive that your going to win the series the numbers get up in the 75 percent range. If the Giants can come back with a split they can have home field advantage. It’s a question or not if you take advantage of that home field advantage.

Michael Duca is doing SF Giants post season commentary for http://www.sportsradioservice.com to hear the rest of the interview please scroll down and click on sound cloud

photo courtesy of: KRON 4 News San Francisco